The Potions Conference
by rhapsodybree
Summary: Where it all began... Interconnected drabbles (not quite a story) for Hermione/Severus and their changing relationship. Now with Chapter 11 repaired.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Hermione Granger looked at herself sternly in the mirror.

"You are going to go out and enjoy yourself," she ordered severely. "You're going to put aside all of the organising and stress and research for the night and enjoy yourself."

Her gaze dropped to the small bottle in her hand as her determination faltered slightly. Nodding firmly, she threw her head back and sculled the bottle in one go.

Eyeing herself in the mirror once again, she spoke ruefully, but with the beginning of excitement building within her.

_Anything goes._

* * *

Seven hours later she was rip-roaring drunk.

Stumbling toward her hotel room, she had unexpected company: Ronald Weasley – a man she hadn't seen in over two years (and who was only in town because it was frankly the biggest party in the world).

She struggled to keep upright, Ron equally pissed.

It didn't look like she was getting lucky tonight, but her pep talk earlier had worked: she'd had a really good time tonight.

Struggling with the charm on her door, she finally got it right and stumbled through, Ron right behind her.

Later she would look back and be unable to decide who had made the first move. All she knew was that when she woke up the next morning with a redhead in her bed and vague recollections of a sexual experience rushed and merely satisfactory, she regretted it instantly.

As she looked at the man in the bed, all she could think was: thank God I took the contraceptive potion.

Slipping from the bed, she hastily dressed before reaching for a quill and parchment. She placed it on the bed as she left.

_This never happened. _

* * *

_Next chapter: _another encounter._  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

A week later and the MegaConference (trust the Americans to supersize a Potions Conference) was over.

Exhausted to the bone, Hermione was already promising herself she would never volunteer for the organising committee again.

She was blearily cleaning up, leaning over a low table to gather up assorted parchments, when Severus Snape entered the room.

There was something electric in the air between them as he stalked toward her slowly with purpose. When he entered her personal space, she unwittingly began inching backwards.

When she hit the wall and his body came up flush with hers, she looked up defiantly. He said nothing as he looked down at her, his gaze smouldering.

Their lips crashed together.

He slid his hand up her leg, her skirt lifting as he ventured higher. She gripped his coat lapels as she allowed him to guide her legs to wrap around his hips.

She groaned aloud when he parted her blouse. Her nipples erect, she moaned when he leaned down to take one into her mouth. Burrowing her hands into his hair, she bucked against him.

"Yes."

Was that her talking? Begging?

Fed up with the torture, she slipped a hand down and gripped his swollen member. She grinned devilishly at the power she held when he bucked involuntarily against her.

The victory was short lived, for he reached down and released it, hard and erect. Her panties were tugged to the side and she knew she was wet.

She gasped when his finger ghosted over her bundle of nerves. She threw her head back against the wall when he thrust into her with one stroke.

It was hard, rough and oh so good.

Coming down from their mutual highs shortly after, both were still clothed. She felt bereft when he slipped from her.

Finding her balance, she was breathing heavily as she struggled to think straight.

Opening her mouth, she promptly shut it.

He backed away, preparing to leave. She was beginning to doubt if she had just fucked her ex-Potions Profession in a hotel conference room – where anyone could have walked in on them.

She would have called out to him, but the words were snatched from her mouth when Severus Snape suddenly returned, tugged her toward him, covered his lips and kissed her.

It wasn't just any kiss, and when she heard the telltale *pop* of apparition moments later, she still stood there as her fingers came up to cover her lips.

_What the hell had just happened?_

* * *

_Next chapter: _Realisations_.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Three months later, and enduring the insomnia that had taken up residence for the past three days, Hermione knew just what had happened.

Looking down at the parchment before her with bleary eyes, she pondered at it.

_Oh, sod it._

Crossing the room, she attached it to the owl and sent it off.

* * *

Severus Snape looked up from where he was working at the bench when the letter arrived. It was short and to the point.

_I'm pregnant. Baby's yours. Returning to Scotland. Expect nothing from you. H_

Neither had much sleep that night.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Moving.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Hermione heard nothing from Snape as she finished up her Masters in America and prepared to move back home and take up a research position.

Entering her flat on her first night home from work, dead on her feet, it took her slow mind a second longer to see that something was off.

Looking around the lounge room, everything appeared the same. Entering the kitchen, she found a covered bowl, a heating charm in place.

Tears ran down her cheeks – bloody hormones – as she lifted the cloche and fragrant spices filled the air.

There was no note, but she could suspect who it was from.

She never saw his face in the days and nights over the weeks that passed, but meals and other assorted necessities just seemed to appear – some without her even realising that she needed them.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Routine.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Life settled into a routine of awaken, be sick, eat, be sick, attend work and then return home to dinner waiting.

And in these uncertain times, that was all she needed.

Hermione's belly continued to grow and when she reached her four month mark, she knew she couldn't keep it from her parents much longer.

As expected, her mother was concerned. "But where's the man?"

She thought of it for a second. "We're not together, but he's in the picture."

"Oh sweetheart."

Entering her flat after the emotionally draining visit, Hermione smelt the chocolate instantly. As she grabbed a spoon, she mused that even though she and Snape weren't together – hell, she hadn't even seen him since that eventful night – he was there for her in every other way.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Face to face.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Two days later, she came home sick and unexpectedly caught him in his flat, his wand raised to set the heating charm.

Sensing him ready to disappear – neither quite ready to face it yet – she hastened to stop him from leaving.

She called out his name, but before she could continue, she ran for the bathroom. Seated on the floor, she brought up all her stomach had left to offer.

Dry retching, she moaned when she felt a cool cloth at her neck.

Feeling incomparably hot moments later, she rose and tugged off her jumper. Stumbling to the basin, she splashed cold water over her face.

Rising, she tugged her hair up as she fanned herself.

She turned to find Severus Snape's eyes intent on her midriff. Looking down, she saw that her – their – unborn child was a hard mound, starkly outlined in her singlet.

His eyes then lifted to hers, his gaze impenetrable. "Is this your daily experience?"

"More like an hourly experience," she muttered, unable to stop the words from escaping.

He nodded, turned on his heel and left.

Hermione exhaled shakily.

* * *

Hermione awoke the next morning to find a nausea potion on her bedside table. She came home from work to discover dinner on the table.

And as the days became weeks, neither spoke of their changing fragile relationship – as Severus Snape became a semi-constant, albeit discrete, presence in her flat.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Death.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Two months later, and Hermione's parents suddenly died in a car accident.

Six months pregnant, Hermione was overwhelmed by the people that descended en masse with sympathies. Several people she had not see in months – years even – and it was an emotional rollercoaster to navigate.

Her mask threatening to slip, she finally managed to escape them.

Arriving home, she found him sitting in her lounge room. She just stood there looking at him hopelessly before she suddenly found herself swept up into his arms and the tears fell at last.

His presence in her house – though never too close to her – was remarked upon in the lead up to the funeral, but for many it was the repayment of a debt owed to the other.

She had after all saved his life.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Ron.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Hermione found herself humming as she stood and perused the papers before her. Sparing a glance out the window she mused that mayhap life was good.

Pressing a hand into her back, she heard a very familiar voice behind her. The voice trailed off as she turned and his gaze dropped to her very apparent pregnancy, all seven and a half months on show.

"Oh Herimone," he said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hermione looked blankly at Ron. "Tell you what?"

"That you're expecting my child."

Memories flooded back and she was embarrassed that she had forgotten about their one fumbled night together.

"It's not yours."

"You slept with someone else?!"

* * *

Later that night, she sat beside Snape in the comfortable silence that often reigned between them as they both did their own thing.

He broke it tonight, even as he continued to massage her swollen ankles.

"Why would Weasley think he could make such a claim?"

She didn't bother asking how he knew, and neither did she bother fudging on the answer.

"I slept with him before I slept with you."

She saw the raised eyebrow.

"I mean a week before we, ah, came together," she corrected, now flustered. "It was a mistake."

"Oh."

She saw the eyebrow rise once again and blasted the insufferable man to hell and back when all he did was simply return to reading his journal.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Labour.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Hermione groaned.

Forty weeks, four days and fourteen hours and this baby was not shifting.

Resorting to something familiar, she was researching methods on how to bring on labour.

Castor oil – she felt sick at the very prospect.

Acupuncture – labour was going to be painful enough.

Curry – she wanted to retain her taste buds thank you.

She could have Snape whip up a potion or remedy.

She blushed as she noted the next one. Sex and nipple stimulation.

Skipping it over, she saw another option – walking. Looking down at her distended belly, she snorted. Ain't happening.

She sighed as she realised one thing that was happening – she needed to pee.

Which meant getting out of her seat.

Bracing herself, she sensed she was being watched. "How about instead of standing there and laughing at me, you get over here and give me a hand up."

"As you wish," came his smooth response.

Upright, she rested her palms on his vest as she regained her balance. The option of sex and nipple stimulation branded into her brain, she felt her body responding at his close proximity.

"Have sex with me."

He didn't seem alarmed, more curious as he raised an eyebrow.

"The book says it brings on labour," she elaborated.

He had the audacity to laugh. "You and your research."

She grabbed his neck and pulled him down toward her. "Fuck me."

* * *

_Next chapter: _Birth.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Seventeen hours and Hermione felt the contractions begin.

Easing up in the bed, she pushed at Snape's shoulder. He grunted, but otherwise failed to respond. (He would later joke that she had worn him out with the sex marathon she had put him through.)

Kicking him out of the bed, she was panting as he instantly awoke and reacted.

"Hospital. Now."

* * *

Lying on the hospital bed, she screamed as another contraction rippled across her abdomen.

It _hurt._

Gripping the sheets, the threw her head back as she keened.

Groaning at the constant pain, she opened her eyes to suddenly find him there.

"I thought you were waiting outside," she panted.

"I changed my mind."

* * *

_Next chapter: _Names.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own creations.

* * *

He hadn't objected when Hermione announced that she already had a name for their unborn daughter: Lisbette Verity.

He also acquiesced when she announced not long after the funeral that the name had changed to honour her newly deceased mother: Helena Marcheline.

It wasn't until little Nell was born and Severus sat with his small daughter cradled in his arms that he felt the first stirrings of fatherhood.

Looking at the sleeping baby, so vulnerable and trusting in his arms, that he understood for the first time what it meant to truly love someone and want to protect them with every fibre of his being,

"I always thought that fatherhood was an unfortunate act of biology," he said softly. He paused to run his finger along the soft skin of his child.

"But it is so much more."

* * *

_Next chapter:_ Finale.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and only borrowed the characters for a little while.

* * *

Without warning or ceremony, Snape took up permanent residence in the Granger household. After a particularly difficult night, Snape woke up on the couch to find Hermione tucked into his body, sound asleep.

His heart betrayed him as he squeezed her closer to him and pressed a kiss to her crown.

He could get used to this.

* * *

Public opinion was against them, as were the odds, but Hermione Granger and Severus Snape were parents to a gorgeous baby girl with midnight black hair named Helena "Nell" Marcheline Granger Snape.

And not long after, Lisbette "Lis" Verity Granger Snape followed.

As Ronald Weasley declared to Harry Potter one night in a loud voice. "She slept with him _again_?!"

Several times in fact.

There was even a marriage, and a son a few years later.

* * *

_Next chapter: _Finito.


End file.
